Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke at the farewell ceremony for Aliaksandr Milinkevich, which is being held today at the Archcathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw.
The leader of the democratic forces described Milinkevich as a person people wanted to look up to and as an embodiment of a European Belarus.
“He was a politician whom we were never ashamed of. Someone we wanted to look up to. Belarusians saw in him a decent and responsible leader. And they saw another Belarus — normal, non-Soviet, European. He lived for Belarus. He breathed Belarus. For him, the personal and the national were inseparable. And he loved our people very much. This love made him so close to them. Close to very different people. Thank you for everything you managed to do. Belarusians will miss you very much. May his memory be a blessing”, she said.
After the service, the funeral procession will proceed to the Powązki Military Cemetery.
Milinkevich’s death was reported on Aug. 11. In November last year, he underwent a complicated carotid artery operation. He remained in serious condition for a long time afterward and underwent rehabilitation.
